Soulmark
by aaliona
Summary: Gogo's soulmark had never been like everyone else's, but she tried not to dwell too much on it. She had bigger concerns, like building a faster bike and kicking crime's (and Fred's) butt. Honestly she thought the mark would always be that way. She never imagined it would change. She never imagined she would find her soulmate.
1. Chapter 1

During the week approaching her sixteenth birthday, Gogo pretended she couldn't care less about the impending mark that would appear. She pretended that staying up until midnight the last night before meant nothing. The morning of her birthday she pretended to be disinterested when people asked to see the line on her wrist.

But having her soulmark was a big deal.

Sitting in the lab years later, she ran a finger slowly along the zig-zagging faint line in her skin. Most people had a darker mark than this, and Gogo usually ignored the possible implications of having a light soulmark. Her father had always assured her that it was different; her soulmate couldn't be dead like his had been because she would have felt it. Comparing her mark to his in the past had proved this correct because while her line was faint, it was not white like his. It still had presence.

"Thinking about the bae?" Fred teased as he came up behind her.

Gogo jumped, instantly turning around to slug him in the arm. "Don't do that," she snapped. "We've been over this. The whole superhero-reflexes thing doesn't work well with surprises."

He rolled his eyes and flopped against the counter. "Dude, it's not my fault if you aren't paying attention."

She merely popped her gum and turned back to her schematics. A faster bike had so many transportation applications, but she needed more universal designs before she could demonstrate the project to Krei.

"Don't ignore me," Fred whined. "It's rude, and you're just annoyed I caught you being sappy."

"Looking at a mark doesn't make me sappy." Despite her snarky tone, Gogo rubbed her thumb over her wrist again.

"If you say so." He glanced up and brightened immediately. "Honey!" he called as he nearly skipped across the lab. "Have you been working on any more not-science for me? I have this new idea that could really make things awesome."

Gogo sighed, her shoulders dropping from the relief of not having to defend herself on the subject. After blinking a few times, she looked back at her soulmark. She hadn't always focused on it so much. She'd made it all the way to freshman year without paying much attention to it at all. Then it grew warm.

Everyone knew a heated soulmark represented a person's soulmate in close proximity. Upon meeting that person, the mark would heat up to nearly unbearable temperatures, able to be stopped only by physical contact against the soulmate's mark. Both would cease to heat up immediately, changing color from a dark red to a bright shade of pink. Gogo's wasn't like that at all.

Her somewhat reddened mark looked nothing like those of her friend's. The heat she felt did not match the descriptions she'd heard. There was no sharp, aching sensation to curb with contact to another. She didn't even know when they started. Gogo had noticed for the first time the night of the fire. Holding up strong in front of Hiro and her friends, she'd immediately parted from Wasabi when they returned to their apartment. Holing herself up in her room, Gogo curled up in a ball and sobbed her heart out. He was gone. One of her best friends was gone. Even worst, he'd left his little brother nearly alone in the world. Sure, they'd gotten along well with him, but Gogo didn't know if they could continue spending time with him, pretending things were normal. Without Tadashi, they never would be again.

Clutching her hands to her chest, Gogo's cries slowly diminished to sniffles, and she grew aware of another sensation. Her right wrist seemed unnaturally warm, like she'd held it close to a lit candle until the heat transferred over.

She'd chalked it up to trauma-induced delusion and told no one about it. Soft heat when alone? That wasn't a soulmark symptom.

Then it happened again. And again. Sometimes Gogo would be in the lab, others undressing after a fight. She could never tell when the heat started; the sensation was too gradual for that. She'd merely puzzle it out afterward, an experience she couldn't quite ignore.

Gogo turned to the internet for a possible explanation, but none could be found. Most comments seemed to agree that vague heat did not actually exist. The experience was just a delusion brought on when people desperately wanted to meet their soulmate. Personally she found that bullshit. She wasn't in a hurry and had tried ignoring it too much for the whole thing to be in her head.

She focused on her work, on fighting crime. They hadn't intended to continue the hero work, but Krei offered to sponsor any repairs or upgrades they could need in order to keep saving people. Who were they to refuse?

Standing up abruptly, Gogo cut off Fred's long-winded explanation. "Quit bothering her about it. You already have fire, which I still say was a bad call. You don't need some kind of fireball-in-a-bottle to add to the chaos."

**AN: **Story originally posted on AO3, but I plan up updating both at the same time.

I hope this was clear enough as to how the soulmarks work. I got the idea as a variation to the whole clock-counts-down-to-meeting-your-soulmate idea. If the mechanics and such weren't understandable, just let me know and I'll put a more thorough explanation at the beginning of the next chapter. Sorry this one was mostly exposition, but I just needed to get it all down while I had the muse. Plus, I think the rest of the chapters will be longer than this one, but I wanted to cut it off before I got too far into the drama.

That being said, I have finals next week. The next update could be after that when I have time or tomorrow when I'm procrastinating. I really don't know, but I do know it will come. I have so many ideas for where this is going.

Thanks for reading, and please let me know what you think so far!


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:** Finals are done, which means you all should get semi-regular updates. (Hooray!) Hope you enjoy the chapter and don't hate me too much by the end.

Also, I was asked to clarify ages, so here you are. Since the rest of the group is in college, I assume their ages to be somewhere between 18 and 20. For the sake of this fic, all were freshmen when the movie took place, making them 20-21 now depending on birthdays. Hiro, who was 14 at the time, is now 16, so about four years younger than the rest. Hope that clears things up!

* * *

><p>"But Gogo…"<p>

"He already said he doesn't want a big to-do," she said, cutting off Honey's plea. "Cass's stuff should be plenty."

Wasabi groaned, flopping down into the couch. After spending nearly twenty minutes arranging the cleaned dinner dishes, he looked beyond exhausted, leaving Gogo to hope no crime fighting call came through tonight. "Gogo's right. If the kid doesn't want a party, don't give him one."

Putting her hands on her hips, Honey glared at him. "He's not a kid anymore. You guys, this is a big day for him. All I want is to blow up a few balloons, invite some people from his bio-engineering lecture, and throw a little party."

"He's already getting that," Gogo said, closing her eyes from her place draped sideways across her armchair. For as long as she and Wasabi had lived there, everyone knew not to touch that chair. "Minus the lecture people, Cass has all that. Besides, no one wants a sweet sixteen with acquaintances. He'll probably be worried about other things."

Fred laughed from his place sprawled out on the floor. "Knowing him, he'll convince Baymax that going out and scanning for his match will make him a better healthcare companion."

Gogo's stomach gave a little twist, and like everyone else, she instantly looked down at her line. The only person who didn't was Honey, whose hand reached behind her out of habit to touch the small of her back at her soulmark's location.

"All the more reason to keep it small," Wasabi said. "The idea of being able to find his soulmate is kind of a big deal."

"Speaking of soulmates," Gogo said to change the subject, "Fred, how is Jamie these days."

He grinned, angling his head to look at her. "Dude, you don't even want to know the stuff we got up to last night. I think I'm going to be sore for a week."

They all protested, not wanting to know the details of Fred's sex life. It had come as a shock to some the day Fred and Jamie bumped into each other on the street, but Gogo wasn't surprised. As someone who had never cared about gender, Fred finding out his soulmate was male came all in stride. Her only moment to twinge was when because he was in costume, he took his Fredzilla head off in broad daylight to introduce himself.

To his credit, Jamie took it in stride, stating that he'd always known there would be something unique about his soulmate. No one told him that Fred had plenty more unique to add to that; the man would find out soon enough.

Gogo wondered if that's how hers would come—mid-fight looking for an opening instead of love. Or maybe on her bike with a burn so hot she'd have to stop and turn around.

But would it come at all?

She let out a deep breath that no one commented on, probably thinking it a reaction to Fred. That wasn't it at all. Her thin little line didn't look like most people's, and although she'd seen explanations of everything from death to an underage soulmate, she'd never _ever _come across a real reason for the heat. The slow, regular heat that she noticed nearly every day in the lab or on the job. It had become so constant that she occasionally had to stop and process. Was it currently warm or not?

Her situation was unique (perhaps even more unique than Fred), so for all Jamie's words, maybe she'd be the one with a unique soulmate.

If she had one at all.

* * *

><p>She could tell as soon as she walked into the café that today was going to be a hard one. One of the rare times that Gogo noticed the heat right away, she turned around, pointlessly scanning the room for any possible cause of her soulmark's strange activity. The few regulars had all been there a million times and most seemed a million years old.<p>

Gogo knew she had to shake off the feeling and ignore the heat as best she could, so she didn't bother to look down. If she let it, analyzing her mark could consume the whole day, and that wouldn't be fair to the others, especially Hiro.

"Gogo!"

She turned her head, a smile spreading across her face as she saw Cass waving madly from behind the counter. After waving back, she sauntered back, sliding around wayward chairs the morning rush had left out.

"Need any help?" she asked as she leaned against the counter.

Cass nodded her head toward Honey, who stood carefully frosting a design on the top of Hiro's heaping birthday cake. "I think she's got it."

Gogo smiled in understanding, hoping Cass couldn't see that it hurt. She'd never been good at baking—or cooking for that matter, as Wasabi had practically banned her from the kitchen unless it was just noodles or freezer food—but at times like these, she wished for the skills to help out.

"Where's Hiro?" she asked.

Cass shouldered a cupboard closed as she reached for the oven to take out a tray of cookies. "Still in bed, the sleepyhead. You'd think turning sixteen would give him enough urgency to get up at a decent hour, but no such luck." She had half the cookies off the tray before she paused, gesturing to Gogo with the spatula. "You want to go get him up?"

"Can do," she said, giving Cass a two-finger salute.

Sliding around the counter, she headed up the stairs, paying little attention to the family kitchen where they would be celebrating as soon as the boys got there. She marched up the second set, halfway up before she noticed something changing. The mark, which she had pushed to the back of her mind, hadn't gone away. If anything, it seemed to be getting stronger, but that was impossible. The mark never changed.

Clutching the wrist in her other hand, Gogo continued up the stairs. The door wasn't shut tightly, so she could just push it aside. Before she could do so, however, she heard Baymax inside.

"On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain?"

"Three… Guh, four. Actually it could be a five. Maybe even a six."

At that moment, Gogo had to scrunch her eyes shut to brace herself against the searing heat on her arm. "Damn," she muttered.

"Wh-Who's there?" Hiro called.

"Just me," Gogo said and gritted her teeth as she pushed over the door with her hip.

Once inside, she locked eyes with Hiro for merely seconds before both let out a yell. Gogo nearly clawed at her arm, glancing at Hiro to see he was doing the same with his side. Mouth falling open, she looked at her mark fully for the first time that morning. It was a solid, angry red.

"I prescribe physical contact."

"What are you talking about, Baymax?" Hiro snapped, squirming around on his bed, but Gogo could already tell.

"Your treatment," the robot provided, his tone the typical pleasant one. "You and Gogo have a simple diagnosis…"

She watched as Hiro's eyes widened, the pieces clicking into place in his head. He opened his mouth, answering in unison with Baymax."

"Soulmates."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>

Sorry if the ending is a bit abrupt. I promise you won't have to wait in suspense for too long, though, since I wrote four chapters in the car today. The next one should be up by Christmas, but let me know what you think so far.

Also, I don't really know where Jamie came from because he did not exist when I wrote chapter one, but him being around doesn't contradict it and having written him in later... I'm happy about his existence. Hopefully you'll be as well.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN:** Not a whole lot to say about this one. The usual "let me know if you're confused and any feedback you might have" message.

* * *

><p>Gogo and Hiro stared at each other from across the room for a few seconds, both too shocked to care about the pain ripping through their soulmarks. The agony was becoming too much for Gogo to bear just as Baymax closed his puffy hand around her wrist. She looked down, the icy cold he provided only a partial ease for the burn.<p>

Before she could think on it more, he turned and slowly pulled her closer to Hiro. He let out a grunt of pain as her own mark increased the heat, but quite abruptly it stopped as Baymax pushed her down onto the bed. Her hip landed against his legs, still covered by blankets.

Both took a moment to breathe steadily, something the burn had made difficult.

Gogo watched as the thin line on her wrist altered in color, going from the cherry red to pink. Looking back at Hiro finally, she noticed him staring at his own. With a jolt, she realized for the first time that he didn't have a shirt on.

When he saw her gaze, Hiro's face turned a faint shade of pink. "I, um, took it off," he said. "I was trying to figure out what the pain was."

"Did you wake up like that?" she asked. That sounded like agony, being ripped from sleep by such acute pain.

Hiro nodded and then shrugged. "Yeah. Well, I mean… kind of. I was sort of awake anyway because I was trying to figure out if I could tell where my mark was without actually looking for it. I did because it seemed pleasantly warm. I thought that was weird because I'd never heard anyone say that marks are like that, but I figured it was probably normal."

"I was downstairs," Gogo realized. "We were near each other."

She stared down at her mark, details finally clicking into place about why her mark had always seemed so strange. The discoloring and heat she could both chalk up to his age. Her mark had been trying to tell her for ages that it was Hiro. The lab, out fighting, trying on new gadgets—they'd all sparked the heat, but she'd paid it too little attention to make the connection. Without a reciprocating mark on his end, hers could only do so much. It couldn't fully point out her soulmate because its missing other half made it too weak.

"We… We're soulmates," she said slowly.

"I guess so." Hiro licked his lips and fidgeted, his leg moving away from her hip.

Gogo did not want to admit that she felt the loss of contact so acutely.

"Did you know?" he asked. "I mean could you tell? From yours?"

She shook her head. "I never noticed. My mark was trying to tell me, but the connection was too weak to make a difference. I didn't make the connection."

"For a genius, you sure aren't that smart," Hiro teased.

Gogo let out a laugh and pushed him, causing him to land back on his pillow. "Hey, you're the genius. I just like to go fast."

"What was it like?" he asked, propping up on his shoulder. "You said the mark was trying to tell you. How?"

Gogo held up her wrist, opening her mouth as she thought of an explanation.

"Gogo, did you get lost or—Oh goodness!"

Jerking her head up, Gogo met Cass's eyes. She realized how strange this must look. There she was, sitting haphazardly on Hiro's bed where he was half-sprawled from her shove. She intended to explain, but then she saw where Cass had her attention focused.

The café owner didn't seem to notice or care about their position. Her eyes fixed on Gogo's upheld wrist. Having seen the mark dozens, if not hundreds, of times in the past two years, Cass knew what color it was supposed to be. She knew Gogo's mark wasn't normal-colored, much less pink. Slowly she moved her eyes away from the engineer's arm to travel over her nephew. It didn't take long to locate the pink line on his side, tucked along the bottom of his ribcage.

"Well," Cass said, blinking her eyes as she came back to the moment. "This is… unexpected, but it doesn't change the plan for today. Wasabi's on his way, and Fred and Jamie are already here. Um… I'll see you two downstairs in a few minutes. Happy birthday, Hiro." Her face tightened into a smile, although Gogo could see the dazed strain of trying to keep it together in a pressure situation.

She shut the door behind her, and Gogo stared at the door until she couldn't hear the woman's steps.

"So…" Hiro said.

She looked back at him, again glancing down at his bare chest. (His first growth spirt hadn't broadened him any, but he was almost as tall as Tadashi now.) "So…" she repeated before finding her usual take-charge self. "Baymax, we are satisfied with our care. I'm going to wait outside the door, and you're going to get changed. We'll go down together because I am _not _answering questions alone if Cass told them."

Hiro nodded wordlessly, so Gogo took that as the okay to stand up and leave.

Leaning against the wall at the top of the stairs, Gogo stared at a framed picture of the Hadama brothers. "What am I going to do, Tadashi?" she nearly whispered. This changed everything. She'd nearly accepted that her soulmark's strange behavior indicted she didn't have one. She'd nearly accepted that she was one of those people who would never find their match.

Instead she had Hiro, the trouble-making little genius she had grown to see as a teammate and friend. She couldn't imagine life without him, but the same could be said of Wasabi or Honey or even Fred. Had she ever had any indication that something was different about him?

Gogo shook her head, knowing that looking back would give her no answers. She needed to focus on the here and now. First, she needed to accept how her friends probably would take the news. It's wasn't _typical_, after all, to know one's soulmate without recognizing them as such. She was sure Honey would take it in stride with comments of, "You guys are so cute!" and "Can I get a picture for my Instagram?" That could be dealt with. Fred, in his own way, would also be easy to deal with. Gogo expected to hear taunting jests of being a cougar and cradle-robber. That too she could handle.

It was Wasabi she couldn't predict. Although Gogo liked to believe she knew the man better than almost anyone, she could always foresee his reactions according to if there was order or not. This… This fell in neither and both categories. He could quietly congratulate them or he might immediately set boundaries within their apartment for when Hiro could and couldn't be there.

Not that it was necessary, Gogo reminded herself. Soulmates or no, she and Hiro weren't going to change much. They couldn't. He was sixteen, after all. He needed to grow up a little first.

The door opened, pulling Gogo from her thoughts. She offered Hiro a half-smirk and nodded down the stairs. "Shall we?"

He audibly gulped, something Gogo catalogued to give him crap about later. For now, she would excuse his nerves because behind her façade of casual normalcy, she felt terrified. She put her hand against the small of his back. If asked, she would have sworn up and down it was strictly for Hiro's benefit.

They reached the bottom, and Honey was the first to see them.

Visibly brightening, the Hispanic girl rushed toward them. "There you guys are! What took so long?" She saw Hiro's face and faltered, glancing at Gogo and then down at where her hand touched Hiro. Gasping as she noticed the mark, she snatched up Gogo's arm. "Oh my gosh, are you guys really!?"


	4. Chapter 4

**AN:** I meant to have this up by Christmas, but it didn't happen. Oh well. Happy Holidays, everyone! Hope you enjoy this new chapter.

* * *

><p>"That went relatively well," Gogo said, closing her eyes as she leaned against the sofa in Hiro's backyard workshop.<p>

Wasabi sat down next to her, the two of them well ahead of the rest of the group. Normally he would have stuck around to help Cass clean up (and reorganize her glasses according to size), but Gogo wasn't surprise he'd followed her out.

"Are you okay?"

Gogo opened her eyes and tilted her head to look at him. Offering him a tired smile, she asked, "Why wouldn't I be?"

"It's not every day you meet your soulmate," he said. "And it's definitely not every day you meet the soulmate you already know."

Biting her lip, she debated telling him the truth. "I'm exhausted. Physically I'm fine, but mentally I'm gone. I've been running through thoughts, scenarios, and explanations all afternoon. What I need is a nice, long bike ride or a night suited up for a few laps in Tadashi's gym."

Krei's biggest surprise in his crime-fighting offer had come months later at the completion of Tadashi Hamada Hall. He'd led them through on an early tour before the official opening and ended with a secret stairwell down to a second basement already decked out with a state-of-the-art track, weight set and plenty of open space for them to train without pestering Heathcliff. When no one else was down there, Gogo loved to just pound against a boxing bag or test her speed on the track until she could barely move.

"I don't think that's a good idea for tonight," Wasabi said with a shrug. "That might turn off your brain for a little while, but it's only going to come back worse when you're done. And then you'll just be spent. If there's a late night alert, you're going to be useless."

"Thanks for that," she said with heavy sarcasm, but Gogo knew he was right. He usually was if heights weren't involved. Letting out a deep sigh, she looked back at him. "What am I going to do?"

Wasabi's face turned serious but kept his usual kindness. "You already know. You're going to woman up and take this The Gogo Way, breezing past or breaking down whatever obstacles stand in your way because there is no room for bullshit in any plan."

She laughed. "Too true. Any bullshit in life is far too much."

"What about bullshit?"

Gogo turned around to see Jamie and Fred entering the garage, Honey trailing along behind them tapping away on her phone.

"We're just discussing your boyfriend's shower habits," she said without thought. When in doubt, making fun of Fred was always a good call.

Appreciating her joke, Jamie cracked a smile as Fred protested.

"My hygiene is perfectly normal, underwear aside." He crossed his arms before letting a grin spread across his face. "Besides, why are we discussing me when there's something so much more important to talk about?"

Gogo sat up stick-straight. "Shut up now," she warned. "You don't want to continue that line of thought."

Honey entered, biting her lip. "Fred, leave her alone."

"But why?" he whined as he flopped down in Hiro's desk chair. "We have so much to discuss. Things are going to change, and they need to be ready to change. Meeting your soulmate brings up a lot of important issues, and as someone who has already done so, I am more than willing to share my wisdom and expertise on the subject. Have you guys figured out when you're having sex?"

"Fred!" Honey reprimanded as his boyfriend shook his head.

"What? It's important to know that your bedroom habits are compatible, especially since you're meant to spend the rest of your life with that person."

"There are so many more important things to worry about," Jamie said, "like getting to know each other."

"They already know each other. And anyway," Fred shot Jamie a cheeky grin, "aren't they one and the same?"

As the man turned red, Gogo put her hands against her temples. She had grossly underestimated Fred's tormenting abilities. "Thank God you will not be breeding. Jamie, if he ever suggests a surrogate, please be the father."

"Seriously, though, have you thought about the sex yet?"

"There's going to be no sex," she said loudly.

"Whoa, um, interesting conversation. Should I leave?"

Gogo's head snapped up, and she guiltily looked at Hiro.

"No, no," Wasabi answered quickly. "It's your lab. Anyway, Fred's just being an idiot. Nothing new."

"I suppose not," Fred mused.

"Out of my chair," Hiro said automatically.

As usual, Fred pouted momentarily before getting up and collapsing on top of his boyfriend on the floor. "Hi Jamie," he said with a smile.

"Hi Fred." The brunet shifted, letting Fred's head fall from his shoulder onto his lap.

"You don't agree, do you?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Agree with what?"

"That I'm an idiot?"

"No," he said, to which Fred brightened. "No, you're definitely an idiot."

They all burst out laughing at Fred's expense, and Gogo glanced around the room. It seemed almost normal until she looked at Hiro. Although he laughed with the rest, his wasn't as genuine as usual, and she wasn't surprised to find him looking her way. _We need to talk_, she mouthed. After he nodded, she caught Wasabi's eye. She stared down his worry with a challenge. He just shook his head and made another comment about Fred's hygiene.

Despite his and Honey's trying, Gogo knew. They all knew. Things weren't going to be the same anymore.


	5. Chapter 5

Gogo shared a smile with Cass as she grasped the stairway banister, but the smooth wood felt a lot more reassuring than the smile. On both ends, it was more strained than happy, but as Gogo disappeared up the stairs, she couldn't blame the older woman. Even if she did trust both Hiro and Gogo, it must be hard to watch a nephew, especially one you've basically raised, take his soulmate up to his bedroom.

Her stomach did another turn, something she'd gotten used to in the past few days whenever she thought about Hiro in relation to that word. Gogo had left with Wasabi the night of his birthday and spent all of Sunday running packages for her currier job (even superheroes need a source of income). They'd seen each other on Monday and Tuesday, of course, but the lab was not a good place to converse. Even with Hiro's private workshop, they needed a better time to just talk and get out everything that needed to be said.

"I nearly killed Fred last night," she said lightly as she entered the room. Out of habit, she glanced at the screen still hiding away Tadashi's corner before sitting down at Hiro's desk.

He chuckled from his place on the bed. "What did he do now?"

"Let's just say he spent the entire patrol doing and saying things completely inappropriate."

Hiro rolled his eyes, and Gogo wondered if his young imagination could even come close to the filthy suggestions Fred had offered to get their sex life started.

"What exactly was he saying?"

Gogo felt her cheeks grow hot, but she knew she'd walked into the question. "I'm honestly not sure I should repeat them. I may occasionally talk like a sailor, but even sailors would blush at a few of them."

Hiro shifted on the bed before blurting out, "Why were you guys talking about sex that night?"

Her whole body tensed up, and she forced herself to relax. "Well… Fred. You know how he can be. He says the most ridiculous stuff."

"Us having… doing that sort of thing is ridiculous?"

Hiro looked like someone had slapped him, and Gogo gnawed at the gum in her mouth, knowing she basically had.

"That isn't what I meant," she said. "Us… together isn't ridiculous, but we need to be realistic, Hiro."

"Why isn't that realistic?" he asked. "I mean we're soulmates. That means the same thing for us as it does for complete strangers. It's pointed us toward marriage someday. I- I'm definitely not saying that kind of thing should come now, but it sort of comes with the territory of a serious relationship."

Gogo let her head hang loose on her shoulders. "Look, Hiro, I acknowledge that's all true, but I really don't think that's the best approach."

She'd spent the last three days thinking up every possibility related to them, but thanks to Fred, it all wound back to sex. She tried imaging spending her nights with Hiro, here in this room or back in her apartment. Either way it seemed weird in her mind. Soulmates or not, he was still a kid. She was old enough to drink; Hiro couldn't even vote.

"What's not the best approach?" His wariness for the upcoming conversation was easy to hear, but Gogo hadn't expected any less.

"There's plenty of time for a relationship and stuff later, but I really think we should stay friends."

"You're kidding, right?"

Gogo flinched but didn't respond.

Hiro scooted to the edge of the bed, his face a mix of incredulousness and hurt. "Gogo, soulmates don't just find each other and agree to just be friends. That's like… That's like the high school relationship you go into knowing it won't work."

"How would you know?" she shot back, knowing it was a bit low. "Hiro, if it wasn't for that freaky brain of yours, you'd still be in high school. You'd be currently navigating one of those. Four and a half years. That's a lot of time between us, and soulmates or not, I don't feel comfortable right now."

"You don't feel comfortable because of my age?" He balled up his hands into fists. "You can't just pretend we don't know. It won't work and you know it!"

She did, but that didn't make Gogo feel any better about the prospect. "Obviously we'll be more than just friends, but I just can't date you in the traditional sense. You're too young."

"That hurts," he said, voice deadpan.

The sound of air sucking into a vacuum drew both their attention. Gogo let out an exasperated sigh, dragging a hand through her hair as Baymax inflated.

"Hello, Hiro. Hello, Gogo. What seems to be your pain?"

"I'm a man facing rejection," Hiro muttered, throwing himself down on the bed to stare at the ceiling.

"You aren't a man at all. That's the problem." Gogo crossed her arms, glaring at both Hiro and Baymax, even though the latter didn't really deserve it.

"Soulmates are unable to reject each other. Historically the attempted end to a relationship between matches leads to feelings of listlessness, isolation and depression. As your healthcare companion, I strongly suggest against such actions."

Okay, now he deserved the glare.

"I am not rejecting him, Baymax," she explained. "I'm just… stalling the exploration of soulmate feelings."

"Attempts to ignore one's soulmate may lead to the previously stated symptoms. Biologically your bodies may rebel, leading to hormone inflections, mood swings, and an inability to stay apart. Diagnosis: Embrace biological urges under safe, consented conditions."

Gogo's mouth feel open. "Did the robot seriously just tell us to have sex?"

"Apparently so," Hiro squeaked, his voice reaching a pitch higher than his voice had been when they met. His face looked as shocked as she felt. "I-I think we're satisfied with our care, Baymax. You should probably go back to sleep."

"But you have not embraced my medical advice." He turned from one to the other, the chipper smile of his face almost taunting Gogo.

"We'll think about it. Just… go." Hiro buried his head in his arms, remaining that way even after Baymax deflated.

Gogo sighed, moving slowly over toward his bed. She hesitated before sitting down, putting a hand on his shoulder. Hiro jerked at her touch before settling and staring at her.

"I still don't think it's a good idea to rush into this," she said. "It honestly has nothing to do with you, Hiro. We can do, like, date stuff, I guess, but you can't expect too much from me. I've always just done the independence thing and kept things casual. Obviously that's not the case here, but this is one place where I can't go fast."

"Have you…" Hiro shut his mouth, apparently decided that the question wasn't worth asking. "I guess I can handle that." A sense of determination entered his eyes, and he sat up. "Good night, Gogo."

His eyes half-closed before he leaned toward her.

Biting her lip, Gogo stood up, denying his attempt at a kiss. "Good night, Hiro." She turned around to walk out the door at her usual quick pace. Although she could have blamed her want to get the conversation over with and go home for leaving so fast, Gogo couldn't even lie to herself. She couldn't face the rejection sure to be found in Hiro's puppy dog eyes.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>I know several of you have theories about how their relationship will progress, so I'm curious what you guys think of this latest development! Unfortunately, this was my last pre-written chapter, so I'm not sure how regular updates will be. I still have a while before I go back to school and may write up another batch to continue having them somewhat regularly.


	6. Chapter 6

Gogo threw a few more quick punches before jamming her knee forward, slamming into the punching bag. Already worn leather groaned against the force of her kick. As the bag swung around, Gogo stepped back, hands on her hips while she regained control of her breathing.

"What did it ever do to you?"

Pursing her lips, she turned around to glare at Fred. "You just watched me kick the crap out of that thing, and you're still willing to push me?"

He shrugged and offered her an easy grin. "What can I say? I live dangerously. Besides, you don't have the energy left to kill me."

She raised an eyebrow. "That a challenge?"

"Possibly, but I think Jamie would be slightly annoyed with you if I came home too bruised to walk."

"As long as you acknowledge I have the capability," Gogo commented and turned away to go grab a towel. An itchy sort of energy still coursed through her body, despite the workout. "Did you come here to work or just bother me?"

"Mostly bother."

As she glared at him again, Fred laughed and leaned against a weight set.

"I'd rather you didn't. I'm here to train, not put up with your crap."

Fred rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, Gogo. It's not that simple. You can easily do both. It _is _faster to multitask."

Fighting the urge to throw something at his head, she tossed her sweat towel back down and strode over. "Spot me," she commanded, keeping her expression in the typical neutral position. Fred often called it her resting bitch face.

Knowing he would move, she checked the weight amount and laid down on the bench. It was already set to hers, even though she hadn't been down in nearly a week. "Thought Wasabi was coming down to lift yesterday?"

"He planned to, but Kiera from the engineering club cornered him again." Still looking relaxed, Gogo knew that in Fred's current place, he could be alert and lifting the bar off her in an instant if something went wrong.

She grunted, lifting the bar from its position to do her reps. "He needs to learn to tell her no. That crush of hers is annoying, and I'm sick of seeing it and her in the lab."

"Yeah, that office romance stuff just doesn't belong."

Gogo's grip nearly slipped, and she paused to glare at him again. "That was completely uncalled for."

The smirk on his face was one she hated. "Sorry, but it's a completely fair point."

She didn't answer.

"Gogo, would you stop for a minute?"

Letting out a heavy sigh, she extended her arms and let him roll the bar back onto the holding notches. Once that was out of the way, Gogo sat up and crossed her arms. "What?"

The concern on Fred's face threw her off. She hadn't expected to see anything of the like.

"Do you realize how much he's hurting right now?"

She'd known as soon as he got serious this would be about Hiro. It always seemed to be these days. Turning away, she stared at the floor. "You don't get it. None of you guys do."

"No, we don't," Fred agreed, moving to sit on the other bench. "They don't even know what it's like to know your soulmate, and my experience is a completely different one from yours. Most people's is. That's not the point. You need to stop shutting him out so much."

Gogo itched to go find her gum, but now wasn't a good time to get up and rummage through her bag, even if she was talking to the most lenient guy in the world. "I'm not shutting him out. I'm just—"

"Shutting him out," Fred cut in. "When he tries to talk, you don't even treat him like you did before. It's quick and short, and you turn away as soon as you can. I'm sure it's weird that the group little brother isn't like your little brother anymore, but you gotta deal with it. You're both ridiculous to live with."

This time she did stand. Gogo looked back at the blond with pursed lips. "Fred, I get that you're concerned. We can deal with it without your interference."

As she left him sitting there muttering, Gogo only hoped she was right about all this.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>I know, I know, this chapter was complete filler. For that I do apologize, but I started writing just to keep moving with the story, and the resulting scene seemed too important to cut in that not-actually-important kind of way. I hope you all are having a happy new year (or had, if you do read this the first night).

At this point, I've actually got a couple possible directions the story could go, and they all move fluidly in my head. Let me know if there's anything particular you'd like to see. It could end up having some sway in finding a solid continuation for this story.


	7. Chapter 7

I am so sorry this took as long as it did! I started this chapter almost immediately after the other one was posted, but between work and school starting back up, I haven't had the time to finish. I hope you won't have to wait a month plus for the next one, but I really can't make any promises, I'm afraid.

I did take some liberties with their tech in this story. It has been two years, and they're all innovative people. I assume they've made a few upgrades along the way.

Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

* * *

><p>Gogo offered up her most genuine smile as Honey raced around on the track below. "As you can see, the electromagnetic suspension works for multiple vehicle types, not just bikes."<p>

"And rollerblades," Krei commented lightly, still watching the four wheeler from their vantage point in the press box.

"Well, yes, but I have no plans to market them for that."

He nodded and turned to her, hands clasped behind his back. "Have you thought about how to hide your identity once this tech hits the market?"

"That might be easier to answer while looking at it directly." She gestured down to the track, and Krei exited the press box.

As she followed him down the steps, Gogo marveled at Krei's ability to have a contact for everything. He'd sponsored races at this track so often that the owner had happily offered it up for the day when Gogo said she needed somewhere to better demonstrate. It wouldn't be very professional, after all, for her and Honey to zoom around campus for the demonstration.

Honey slowed to a stop in front of them, so Gogo assumed she had seen them coming down. "Mr. Krei," she said, dipping her head as she propped her helmet on her hip.

"Have you thought any more about marketing your glass? That is truly revolutionary stuff you've got in your visors."

Gogo watched Honey beam and felt a bolt of pride herself. It had taken months for her friend to develop a sort of two-way mirror that was sturdy enough to take a beating, clear enough on their end to see without hindrance, and thin and reflective enough to hide their faces from the outside.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I'm just not interested in marketing my products."

He nodded with an amicability they'd learned to gleam in his eyes before looking back at Gogo. "Now then, Miss Tomago, you were saying about the differentiating between products?"

She crouched down to pull a wheel from the four wheeler. "Mr. Krei, when you look at this, what do you see compared to a normal wheel?"

Although he seemed surprised, Krei took the wheel and examined it. "This is quite a bit lighter, no tire necessary… The material is unique. Some sort of industrial plastic, I would guess. Narrower than a typical wheel, and I've never seen one aside from your invention that narrows along the edges compared to the center."

She smiled and took her tech back as he handed it over. "Does it look like my rollerblade model?"

"They certainly aren't identical."

"Exactly." Gogo reattached the wheel, standing back up as she continued, "The main goal when I original developed this was speed. I was determined to create the fastest bike possible. Only after people began attempting to recreate my skates did I really consider safety. No one came close, obviously, but a few came close enough that they hurt themselves in the process. Faster bike, better chance of injury.

"I began working to thicken the wheels back out. It compromised speed but only minutely, and I believe similar speeds can still be possible with the right future continuation. These wheels have more stability than my blades, making them safer overall. And for those who accuse me of stealing the Big Hero tech, I have time stamped blue prints to prove I began development almost three years ago when the team has only been around two."

"Quite the responsible decisions," Krei said. He squatted down, hands on his knees as he inspected the wheels again. "And you want to begin marketing to race corporations?"

"With as fast as they go, I imagine many racers will be interested," she said. "It also seems like a better starting market than the main market. Given some interest, I can begin modifying and testing for full-sized vehicles."

"We'll need to head back to my office to draw up a contract. Would you like to contact a lawyer to help you look over it?"

"I wasn't really—" Gogo cut off as her phone started buzzing in her pocket. "I am so sorry, Mr. Krei. I thought I had that turned off."

"Probably best it wasn't," Honey said, looking at her own. "It's a team thing."

Biting her lip, Gogo looked back at Krei.

He waved a hand, smiling. "You think about that lawyer question. We can always wait a few days for the contract. Let's leave it at a verbal agreement for now."

"Thank you, sir," Gogo said, already climbing onto the four wheeler with Honey behind her. "I look forward to that conversation."

"Enjoy your city saving."

…

"Looks like Wannabe Wasabi is at it again!"

"For the last time!" Wasabi shouting from his place on Baymax's back. "His lasers are not anything like mine."

"Yes, yes, we're all much more afraid of yours," Gogo cut in, although she couldn't see the guys currently. Something else much more important was in her line of sight. "He brought us some company again."

Not all of the robots could fly, but that select few sped toward them. She and Honey looked at each other and nodded. Both reached up for the handles on the jet packs and dove to meet the mechanical henchmen. She could heard Baymax dipping behind them and assumed the boys were headed to the ground.

Grabbing a disk from its latch point on her hip, Gogo threw it at the closest robot. It hit, severing the head. The robot fell as planned, but unfortunately she'd gotten the angle wrong on her disk. As she hit the return button, Gogo had to stop and jerk on the jet pack handle to keep from being hit by another robot's laser. The disk spun past her again, forcing her to recall it a second time. Lining up another shot immediately, she took out two more.

"That's the flight models," Honey called, twitching in midair as she grabbed onto her own jet pack handles. "We'd better see about the boys."

Gogo spun around, her hands gripping the handles to steer. She made a mental note as she scanned the fight below to help create a better layout of the jet packs for hands free steering.

Wasabi has himself backed against a wall, but he seemed content with the positioning. No robots coming at him where he couldn't see. As he sliced and diced, Fred leapt by with fire. The robots didn't break from the heat, but it did malfunction the lasers.

Honey had already drove into the fight. She spun around half a block away from Wasabi, slapping orbs onto the closest robots. The orbs exploded and stopped robots on either side.

Satisfied that she could go elsewhere, Gogo headed down, still scanning for the other two. Her first instinct has been to find Hiro, but she suppressed it. This needed to be like any other fight.

As she neared the ground, Gogo finally found then. Almost two blocks away from the rest, they were locked with Wannabe Wasabi and seemed to be winning. Gogo turned away to assist Honey when movement caught in her peripheral. Whirling back around, her mouth fell open, and she forced a burst of speed from the jetpack.

"Hiro!" she yelled, but she was too late.

He turned his head toward the sound in time to see three identical laser blasts from the robots sneaking up on his fight.


	8. Chapter 8

From his vantage point on Baymax's back, Hiro could easily see Wannabe Wasabi's moves. Baymax didn't really need help countering the laser attacks, but he preferred Hiro to stay close, if not connected as they currently were.

Hiro heard his name and turned instinctively. It was Gogo, after all. Before he could find her, several bright lights flashed toward him. Eyes widened, Hiro realized the robot lasers headed for him seconds too late to react. He clutched his side as the first hit there, releasing his magnetic grip on Baymax's armor even as the medical robot turned around.

The shriek of lasers on armor told Gogo the robots had struck, her disks too slow to stop them. After one shot each, she managed to take down two, but the third rounded on her as Wannabe Wasabi advanced on her soulmate and robotic friend.

Dodging away from a laser blast, she watched Baymax stagger to his feet in defense of Hiro. Her stomach twisted at his still form, but she couldn't put too much focus there when she had her own battle, a laser blast slicing just over her head.

"Get the fuck away from me," she snarled, slamming her disk into the robot's head.

It gave a metallic cry before sinking to the ground. Gogo tried to run to Hiro, but more robots blocked her path.

Gritting her teeth, Gogo prepared to throw her disk again. She moved to release it, but a glob of blue flew past her to trap the closest two. Gogo whirled around. Without speaking, Honey tossed her an orb and hurried toward the robot crowd. Gogo caught the orb, already rushing toward her soulmate.

"Don't touch him!" she yelled, twisting around as she leapt over a fallen robot to throw the orb.

She'd intended to hit Wannabe Wasabi's laser arm, but the throw was too rushed. Thankfully it hit his feet, planting him down. As the villain hacked away at the goo with his laser, Gogo knelt beside Hiro.

"Talk to me," she pleaded.

He let out a small groan, his eyes momentarily fluttering open. Gogo took that as a positive sign. Looping his arm over her shoulders, she helped him almost to his feet with Gogo completely supporting his weight.

"I am unable to accurately scan Hiro with the uncertainty of the battle," Baymax said, tipping his head anxiously down at her. "We must remove him from this situation to gain a better prognosis."

"Can you fly?" Gogo bit her lip. She could see the gouging on the underside of one wing from the robot attack.

"I believe so. Climb on my back."

Gogo scrambled up. Positioning Hiro, she locked him into place and pulled herself close with one arm secured around Baymax's neck to put less strain on her soulmate. It might have been more convenient to use her jetpack, but there was no way she would leave Hiro now. As Baymax took off, she made eye contact with Wasabi. Unable to read his expression through the reflective glass of his visor, she only hoped he could understand her decision to leave with Hiro. Part of her wanted to tell him through the comm system, but she didn't dare interrupt their concentration during the fight.

The trip to Fred's seemed agonizingly long as Gogo waited for some movement from Hiro. It never came.

She jumped down when they landed, immediately pulling Hiro from Baymax's back. The robot wasted no time in taking the boy from her. He cradled Hiro in his arms as he waddled somewhat quickly toward the house.

For a moment, Gogo remembered the early days when Baymax would hold Hiro in such a way purely to annoy the boy. Although he'd been shorter then, she realized with a hard swallow as she hurried after that he seemed smaller now than ever.

"Talk to me, Baymax," she said, her voice closer to panic than she'd like to admit. "How is he?"

"I have not completed an accurate scan yet." The robot voice seemed calm, but his jerky actions revealed how frazzled Baymax truly was. Sometimes one of them got hit. Sometimes one of them got hurt. But it was never Hiro in questionable shape. Baymax made sure of that.

"Miss Tomago, Master Baymax," Heathcliff said, opening the door for them. Upon seeing Hiro in Baymax's arms, he nodded once and stepped aside. "You know the way to the infirmary. If you request any provisions or assistance, I am available."

"Thanks." Gogo barely glanced at him before looking down at Hiro again. Without gum in her mouth, she realized she'd begun biting at her cheek.

Baymax placed him down on the table in the infirmary before taking a step back to scan. "Hiro has sustained injuries to his side. Will you please remove his armor?"

Gogo pried at the release plate. Removing the chest piece, she felt a little relief that he'd recently reinforced the lining. She moved away the durable under layer, stifling a gasp as her fingers came away red.

Without hesitation, Baymax shouldered her away to inspect the cut on Hiro's side.

She didn't know what else to do, so Gogo inspected the leathery fabric in her hands. The small slice through it had been unnoticeable earlier, and the black coloring hid the blood seeping through.

Dropping the armor onto the table's end, Gogo turned away, folding her arms tightly across her chest in comfort. She squeezed her eyes shut. Watching Baymax shuffle about had become too much.

"I am finished," the robot announced quite suddenly.

Gogo opened her eyes. She wasn't sure how long that had taken. As she took a step forward, Baymax picked Hiro back up. In her state of disfocus, he'd wrapped gauze around Hiro's bare torso. With a small jolt, Gogo realized it covered his soulmark.

"He needs a proper bed for rest."

Nodding Gogo led the way to the guest room Hiro occasionally used when they all crashed here.

_"Gogo, are you there?"_

She nearly jumped at the sudden noise in her helmet. Shaking the nerves away, she replied back to Wasabi, "Yeah, I'm here. We're at Fred's."

_"That we figured,"_ Fred answered, his voice crackling slightly with static.

_"How's Hiro?"_

Gogo bit her lip and looked over to where Baymax was carefully drawing the blanket up to his chin. "He's not awake, but I think he'll be fine. It's… hard to say."

_"We'll be there when we can. It might be a while since we're walking, but don't worry. Everything will be fine."_

She appreciated the firm confidence in Wasabi's voice.

"I'll see you guys when you get here. Until then, I'm taking off my helmet. Unless something changes, don't expect any more answers. Later."

Gogo pulled off her helmet and shook out her short hair, ignoring the sweat level it had picked up and setting down the helmet on the bedside table.

Baymax turned to her with his expectant look upon his face. "I must charge so I may be of some assistance when the others arrive."

That meant he had to head down the hall to where Hiro had stashed his spare charging station—one of three since they also kept one in the gym under Tadashi Hamada Hall.

"Please remove the rest of Hiro's armor so that he may be comfortable when he wakes up."

"Will do," she said, already stepping forward to pull off his helmet. If Baymax noticed as he left that she pushed his shaggy hair off his forehead, the robot gave no notice.

She figured it would be easier to get the pants off if her own armor wasn't in the way. She'd already stashed away her disks, so she just had to remove the chest and arm pieces. The rest was too skin-tight to keep clothing on underneath.

It wasn't the most comfortable material to be in for long periods of time, but she refused to leave Hiro alone to hunt down possible clothing she'd left here in the past. Besides, his pants were made of a similar material and needed to come off in case it caused discomfort for him when he woke up.

Unable to help herself, Gogo felt a blush rise to her cheeks after she'd moved the blankets and pulled down his armor pants. Underneath he didn't have room for much more than she did, but she tried not to focus too much. She was twenty-one; surely she could handle seeing a boy in his boxers, even if it was her soulmate.

Especially if it was her soulmate, she decided with a strange twist in her stomach.

Gogo pulled the blankets back up and folded his pants, placing them next to his helmet. She then looked around for a chair, but this room didn't have one. Licking her lips, Gogo debated her options. Finally she decided the bed was big enough for both of them and plenty appropriate if she stayed above the covers.

Hiro seemed to sense her presence as she laid beside him. His head tilted toward her, and he let out a small murmur.

Smiling to herself, Gogo moved the hair from his face again. "Wake up soon," she half-whispered. "I need you to be okay."

Since he was still asleep, she chanced affection. Leaning forward, Gogo gently kissed his forehead and let her lips linger near him a few moments longer before settling back against the other pillow.

Exhaustion from the fight overtook her, and Gogo lasted only minutes before sleep swept her away.

And that's how she and Hiro still were when the others came in to find them cuddled up on the bed.

* * *

><p>Hopefully this matched your expectations after that (somewhat unnecessary) cliffie I left you guys at last chapter. Let me know what you think of this and where it might lead!<p> 


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